In 2025, fire departments serving Crete responded to 176 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
752 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 161 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | -39.1% | |
| 2023 | 139 | +41.8% | |
| 2024 | 178 | +28.1% | |
| 2025 | 176 | -1.1% |
For the 50 building fires Crete departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 87 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 19 | 21.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 27.6% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Crete mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 45 | 51.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Crete departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Crete sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 21.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 22.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 19.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 20.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 21.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 19.5 mi |
Top 8 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Crete. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Crete.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.